Christyn Williams back in WNBA | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Christyn Williams back in WNBA

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UConnCat

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Reality check. C. Williams has little chance to make an WNBA roster. He best chance was the year she was drafted. When players do not make it then, they really need to be outstanding in some foriegn league to even get another chance. This signing, appears to be a favor so that CW can say that she was once on a WNBA roster.

Two things point to that. The Mercs were already out of the playoffs so it was no big deal to sign her for a couple of days. What makes the signing suspicious is that she was only listed on the roster for the first Aces game. In that game she was listed as injured and unavailable to play. Why would a team that was short handed sign a player that was not able to play? Why? Because she was never expected to play. In the game on Sunday she was not even listed in the box score as injured or other wise. Is she injured again? While to her credit she put on a lot of muscle during her last season at Uconn, because she knew she had to improve. However, it is possible that her body is not built to carry that much weight and it makes her susceptible to to leg injuries. Does not bode well.

olddude, stated that he expected CW strength and the ability to use that on drives to the basket to allow her to thrive in the WNBA. A guard is not going to make it in the league just driving to the basket. The WNBA is not college basketball. Each team has plenty of rim protectors. Guards have to be super quick along with having consistent out side shots. CW, while not slow for college standards, is not quick WNBA level and is much to inconsistent from the outside to be a viable WNBA player. She is very streaky, with her scoring coming sporadically when all the stars a-line. And that was even at the college level.

Many of you just do not realize just how difficult it is to make a WNBA roster. Few openings with more players coming in every year. I suppose first impressions are always harder to overcome. That being that after her scoring performance in the Mc Donalds game, many Uconn fans had her pegged as a potential superstar and they still keep expecting her to fullfull that prespective.
Did Christyn steal your lunch money at some point? You’ve been dragging her on this forum since she arrived at UConn. We get it. You don’t think much of her talents. No need to put it on broadcast again.

Moreover, we here understand fully what it takes to make a WNBA roster and don’t need a 4-paragraph explanation from you. You won’t be making the decision regarding whatever future she might have in the WNBA. We can all just wait and see what happens. We’re thankful she appears to be recovering and hope for the best.
 

MilfordHusky

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Christyn was disappointing at UConn for a #1 recruit, but her main flaw was inconsistency. She was never a bad player. Her draft status reflected her inconsistency. If she has fully recovered, she would fit on almost any roster. Vegas is clearly the best team, but their bench is limited. A healthy CW could give them scoring punch off the bench.

Christyn's career and draft status were similar to those of Tiffany Hayes. Tip has been on the All-Star team, made first-team All-WNBA, and is now a 12-year veteran. CW could have a comparable career.
 
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Many of us do realize how hard it is to make the roster. The reason she didn't make a team the year she got drafted is because she torn her ACL. I believe she tore more than that as well. She was not ready at the beginning of this year, so she wasn't even invited to any training camps. Do I have answers as to why the Mercury signed her? Nope. I do know that she is working/worked very hard to get healthy. She may not make in the W, but please know, it had nothing to do with her weight/extra muscle she put on.
Let me say that I offered the extra muscle only as a possible factor for her injuries. If I remember correctly she did not have any major injuries before she added that muscle. Womens ACL and joints are much weaker than mens and once they started to become more athletic it increased the amount of injuries for them. Their joints were just not built to handle the stress they were put under. Adding the muscle, if that is indeed a cause for those injures , is a catch 22. She needed to do that to reach her max level, but it might also have been what stops her as well. However, my perspective is purely speculative nothing more.

The torn ACL destroyed any chance she had of making a team that year, but even healthy her chances were boder line for the reasons I gave. Too many variables working against her and unfortunately, the first year is almost every players best shot.
 
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Did Christyn steal your lunch money at some point? You’ve been dragging her on this forum since she arrived at UConn. We get it. You don’t think much of her talents. No need to put it on broadcast again.

Moreover, we here understand fully what it takes to make a WNBA roster and don’t need a 4-paragraph explanation from you. You won’t be making the decision regarding whatever future she might have in the WNBA. We can all just wait and see what happens. We’re thankful she appears to be recovering and hope for the best.
My comments on this site have been less a rsponse to her talents of production as Husky and more to the pressure of unrealistic expectations put on her by fans. This pressure seemed to have a negative effect on her at certain points in her Uconn career. Being realistic is not a negative and is no slam on any player or persons character.

My comments throughout her time at Uconn, were geared to " wait and see " with tempered expectations, in response to a fan base who had her pegged as becoming one of Uconns best ever. Yes that is what some projected her to be. My response to CW's expectations in the WNBA are just a continuation in that same vain. The question is do we go with what we wish to be so rather than measured reality?

None of my comments are a negative reflection on CW character or efforts. In fact her remaking her body for the end of her college career was really impressive. It showed desire and effort. Aside from the fact that she spent her career in the Uconn program which alone goes beyond what most college athletes have to commit too. Even an average program requires an amazing amount of committment.

I often think about Acquira DeCosta, someone who finally collapsed under the weight of expectations to the point it almost destroyed her. The signs were there even in high school but no one paid attention enough. I remember a local boy, who I knew as a little kid ( Casey Ortez )on the playground who eventually hung himself when he was cut from an NFL team. His dad was always on the playground as well. Being a professional QB was the expectations put upon him. One he could not meet. They made a movie about him. It is always better to care more about the person than the player.

Perhaps my responses are an over reaction to a sore spot of mine.
 
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Reality check. C. Williams has little chance to make an WNBA roster. He best chance was the year she was drafted. When players do not make it then, they really need to be outstanding in some foriegn league to even get another chance. This signing, appears to be a favor so that CW can say that she was once on a WNBA roster.

Two things point to that. The Mercs were already out of the playoffs so it was no big deal to sign her for a couple of days. What makes the signing suspicious is that she was only listed on the roster for the first Aces game. In that game she was listed as injured and unavailable to play. Why would a team that was short handed sign a player that was not able to play? Why? Because she was never expected to play. In the game on Sunday she was not even listed in the box score as injured or other wise. Is she injured again? While to her credit she put on a lot of muscle during her last season at Uconn, because she knew she had to improve. However, it is possible that her body is not built to carry that much weight and it makes her susceptible to to leg injuries. Does not bode well.

olddude, stated that he expected CW strength and the ability to use that on drives to the basket to allow her to thrive in the WNBA. A guard is not going to make it in the league just driving to the basket. The WNBA is not college basketball. Each team has plenty of rim protectors. Guards have to be super quick along with having consistent out side shots. CW, while not slow for college standards, is not quick WNBA level and is much to inconsistent from the outside to be a viable WNBA player. She is very streaky, with her scoring coming sporadically when all the stars a-line. And that was even at the college level.

Many of you just do not realize just how difficult it is to make a WNBA roster. Few openings with more players coming in every year. I suppose first impressions are always harder to overcome. That being that after her scoring performance in the Mc Donalds game, many Uconn fans had her pegged as a potential superstar and they still keep expecting her to fullfull that prespective.
Wnba doesn't do favors.
 

JoePgh

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So, @willtalk, do you think that Lou Lopez Senechal's chances for a WNBA career are doomed because she had a season-ending injury in her draft year? (FYI, I don't.)

Going back quite a while, I recall that is one year (2001?), both Tamika Catchings and Svetlana Abrosimova were drafted in the first round despite known injuries that would prevent them from playing in their draft year. Subsequently, they both had pretty good WNBA careers.
 
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So, @willtalk, do you think that Lou Lopez Senechal's chances for a WNBA career are doomed because she had a season-ending injury in her draft year? (FYI, I don't.)

Going back quite a while, I recall that is one year (2001?), both Tamika Catchings and Svetlana Abrosimova were drafted in the first round despite known injuries that would prevent them from playing in their draft year. Subsequently, they both had pretty good WNBA careers.

I think Lou's chances are very slim. Just look at the talent in the next 2 graduating classes. Unless the WNBA expands considerably, it will be very difficult for "above average" players to make it. You will have to be elite to remain in the league. The incoming talent just keeps getting better and better.
 
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Christyn was disappointing at UConn for a #1 recruit, but her main flaw was inconsistency. She was never a bad player. Her draft status reflected her inconsistency. If she has fully recovered, she would fit on almost any roster. Vegas is clearly the best team, but their bench is limited. A healthy CW could give them scoring punch off the bench.

Christyn's career and draft status were similar to those of Tiffany Hayes. Tip has been on the All-Star team, made first-team All-WNBA, and is now a 12-year veteran. CW could have a comparable career.
Yes! The problem with her is inconsistency and that mostly applies to her outside shooting. If you are a shooting guard you need to be consistant, and by that I mean your productive games need to come about more than your non productive ones. With me it is not justa matter of being streaky, but the reasons behind for that streaky showing. Its not just that she is streaky hot and cold, but more so that other factors play into games when she scores and does not. She is a player who takes advantage of defensive breakdownss so she needs those breakdowns to aline with her hot streaks.

Using other players as examples as to why she is able to make a WNBA roster is not a good argument. Even so those using that argument are not even using the most outstanding one. Chelsea Gray and Natalie Archonwa were both drafted in the later rounds of the first and were not capable of playing their first season. The difference being that NA was a post and CW was a point guard. Point guards and posts are scarce and teams are always looking for them and there fore will take more risks. Healthy they both would have been lottery picks. Off guards and wings are a dime a dozen in basketball so you have to really excel in those positions. You expecially must be outstanding in at least one skill to even get a sniff. If you are a shooting guard you can not afford to be streaky. Then when you add the CW recent injury history that is the killer.

I also have a question? Why would the Merc sign a player on a hardship contract for the last two games of an injury depleated team if that player could not play because of injuries? Adding a player under those conditions is precisely the reason but to correct a short roster. Does if make sense to add a player who is unavailable because of injury? Unless that player injured themselves during their first work out with the team requiring them to be up on the injured list for their first game. Then on the second game they are not even listed on the box score as unavailable to play? If she injured herself in a short pregame practiced secession, it does not bode well for her health and reinforces her not really being fully recovered. The whole thing sounds kind of fishy.

As too her odds- Why would a team waste their time with a border line player who has missed the last two seasions because of injury.? There are far too many other healty players available with her level of skill set. Too many capable players with few openings available each year.

Again this is less about CW and more about some UConns fans ability to make accurate assessments without being influenced by biased rose colored glasses. This is especially true when it comes to assessments that fall outside of college play. I remember too many fans being enamored with Moni Davis not realizing her chances to get a D1 less a Uconn scholarship was less than zero. Turns out she could not get any level of scholarship.

The issue being that most people just do not realize the level of talent in womens basketball has exploded since the early 2000s. This is primarily because of its increase in the feeder programs for college and that carried over into the professional arena as well. Many established players in the WNBA were they to be entry level today would not even make a roster because of the present level of competition.
 
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True, CW was inconsistent in college, but she worked hard and gave us four good years. As for her chances at making a WNBA roster, I would agree that it is a long shot but not because of the injury. Rather, it will depend on her reworking her shot. There have been many players who have improved their games after leaving College. We have two recent graduates from UConn as examples. CW has all the tools except for that shot. For that matter, there are some pretty poor shooters who have apparently secure roster spots in the W. While the odds are admittedly not good, I’m not ready to give up on her and am hoping against hope that she has sought out a “shot doctor” during her recovery and will join the list of players who have stepped up their game as a professional!
 

MilfordHusky

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Phoenix brought her in for a reason. We may eventually find out.
 
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True, CW was inconsistent in college, but she worked hard and gave us four good years. As for her chances at making a WNBA roster, I would agree that it is a long shot but not because of the injury. Rather, it will depend on her reworking her shot. There have been many players who have improved their games after leaving College. We have two recent graduates from UConn as examples. CW has all the tools except for that shot. For that matter, there are some pretty poor shooters who have apparently secure roster spots in the W. While the odds are admittedly not good, I’m not ready to give up on her and am hoping against hope that she has sought out a “shot doctor” during her recovery and will join the list of players who have stepped up their game as a professional!
Ah, isn't that 3 years? Didn't she leave early. There was consternation at the time. Maybe some "fans" never got over it. I'm far from being the biggest CW fan, but I wish her good luck.
 
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